Sir, – So The Irish Times and the Royal Irish Academy plan to "excavate" 100 Irish artworks "from the revolutionary period to today" ("Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks excavates the best of our art", November 8th).
Apparently “the 100 artworks will be drawn from the literary and visual arts”, although the “panel of experts” (in literature, art and architecture) “will not neglect other areas of creative endeavour” and, without any explanation as to how this is to be achieved, “will also periodically include separate strands on . . . Irish music and song, Irish humour and Irish film.”
Despite this dutiful nod in their direction, Irish film-makers and musicians (and humorists, if they truly constitute a separate category) might well feel that the project should be renamed “Modern Ireland in 100 literary and visual artworks” and that the entire exercise smacks of the usual stereotyping of Irish cultural identity of which the Irish mainstream media outlets have been so consistently guilty. – Yours, etc,
RAYMOND DEANE,
Member of Aodána,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – "Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks" sounds like a fine idea and will perhaps lead to a greater appreciation among Irish Times readers of the legacy of Irish poets, playwrights, novelists, architects, sculptors and painters in the last 100 years.
Maybe in time this will come to be seen as an Irish canon of creativity for modern times. No doubt a coffee table book will hit the shelves in due course. Wonderful.
But what’s this? No composers could be considered for some strange reason? Ireland has produced no operas or symphonies or string quartets?
Between the Irish Times and the Royal Irish Academy there appears to be a massive blind spot as to what Irish creativity can be. This invalidates the whole enterprise, in my view and in the view of many of my colleagues.
I imagine it is too late to stop the Irish Times in its passive denigration of aural culture.
I noticed the intention to “periodically” include a “separate strand on 100 years of music and song, humour and film”; or, in a word, entertainment. That doesn’t really help at all. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN McLACHLAN,
Inishowen,
Co Donegal.